A Christian labourer from the District of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu was attacked on 19 April by a neighbour who accused him of sharing his faith to Hindus.
Thangaraj Ramasamy, a former party worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), sustained severe injuries to his head and shoulders in the attack.
Demanding temple tax
Thangaraj, who became a Christian 15 years ago, said in his First Information Report to the police that his neighbour had been harassing him and demanding that he paid Hindu temple taxes. When Thangaraj refused, the accused, who has been arrested and remains in police custody, threatened to kill him.
Tamil Nadu has witnessed a rise in anti-Christian campaigns in recent months, which have not been addressed by either the central or state government. In response to this, The Synod Pentecostal Churches of Tamil Nadu organised a mass gathering on 17 April and an estimated 20,000 Christians from several districts across Tamil Nadu joined in the protest. A memorandum calling on the government to act was presented to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Edappadi Palaniswami. The Synod noted that in the last 15 months the state has witnessed about 60 incidents of violence against Christians.
